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Contract Awarded for Metered Parking Along the National Mall

Washington – The National Park Service has awarded a contract to Parkeon, USA, to install parking meters on streets and parking areas on the National Mall. Installation of the 90 multi-space pay stations will begin on or about May 1, with operation and enforcement of the meters scheduled for June 12. The new metered parking will create more frequent turnover of limited parking spaces; encourage the use of public transit; and provide revenue to create and improve affordable visitor transportation.

Parking costs under the new metered system will be $2 per hour, and will be in effect from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. daily (including weekends and holidays). Pay stations will accept credit cards and debit cards; payment can also be made via the Parkmobile app or website. The District of Columbia’s Department of Public Works parking enforcement officers will enforce the meters.

Recommended in the National Mall Plan and the subject of public review and comment in 2014, the metered parking will be implemented on Constitution Avenue NW between 15th Street NW and 22nd Street NW; Independence Avenue SW between 15th Street and Maine Avenue; Jefferson Drive SW; Madison Drive NW; Ohio Drive SW between 23rd Street SW and Inlet Bridge; Parkway Drive NW; and West Basin Drive SW. Parking lots that will become metered include those at the Tidal Basin (off of Maine Avenue SW); on Buckeye Drive SW (next to the tennis courts in East Potomac Park); and Lots A, B and C on Ohio Drive SW in East Potomac Park.

The benefits of the new parking meters are already being seen in the DC Circulator’s National Mall route. Launched in the summer of 2015 as a cooperative effort of the NPS, the D.C. Department of Transportation and D.C. Surface Transit, Inc., the NPS portion of the operating costs for this service will be derived from the parking meter revenue. At just a dollar a ride, the National Mall route provides affordable public bus service to 15 stops within easy walking distance of nearly 30 of the city’s most popular monuments, memorials and museums.